The invention relates to a method of introducing a starter bar head of a starter bar into the open ends mould of a horizontal continuous casting plant as well as to a horizontal continuous casting plant for carrying out the method.
With a horizontal continuous casting plant comprising an open ends mould fastened to a tundish, the introduction of the starter bar into the mould involves problems for several reasons. The mould, which is detachably mounted to the tundish, assumes different positions relative to the stationary strand guide, depending on the position of the tundish, so that the starter bar inserted into the mould via the stationary strand guide is not in exact alignment with the mould cavity. It is necessary to slightly lift or lower the starter bar, in particular the starter bar head, in order to prevent a collision of the starter bar head with the mould side walls. Since the mould is fastened to the tundish, the seal fastened to the starter bar head can no longer be checked after threading-in of the starter bar into the mould. Any damage to this seal can no longer be determined, and there is the danger of a strand breakthrough at the onset of casting, if the starter bar head has pushed against a side wall edge during threading-in thereof into the mould.
Due to the secondary cooling mean following upon the mould in horizontal continuous casting plants, the threading-in procedure of the starter bar head into the mould cannot be observed. Moreover, on account of these aftercoolers, the starter bar head has to be seized relatively far away from the mould for the purpose of lifting and lowering during the threading-in procedure, the difficulties during threading-in thus being further increased.
The invention aims at avoiding these disadvantages and difficulties and has as its object to provide a method of the initially defined kind and a plant for carrying out the method, which enable an easy and safe threading-in of the starter bar head into the mould, a damage to the starter bar head seal as well as to the mould side walls being reliably prevented and a check of the seal of the starter bar head inserted into the mould being feasible.